June 27, 2025
The protester who displayed a “Sudan and Free Gaza” flag during Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl halftime performance has been arrested.
The protester who crashed Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl LIX halftime performance with a “Sudan and Free Gaza” flag has been arrested.
Zul-Qarnain Kwame Nantambu, 41, turned himself in to Louisiana authorities on June 26, where he was charged with two misdemeanors of resisting a police officer and disturbing the peace by interrupting a lawful assembly, NBC News reports. Nantambu followed his attorney’s guidance when turning himself in, where he was booked at the Orleans Parish Justice Center.
The arrest comes over four months after he whipped out a Sudanese flag during Lamar’s halftime performance that stated “Sudan and Free Gaza.” While Nantambu was hired as an extra for the performance and allowed to be on the field, he was not approved to use the performance as a political statement and advocate for Sudan and Gaza.
He was detained on the field following his protest, but ultimately not charged. At the time, the NFL announced he would receive a lifetime ban from all league stadiums and events.
“We take any attempt to disrupt any part of an NFL game, including the halftime show, very seriously and are pleased this individual will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law,” NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said.
The arrest comes after Nantambu’s violent encounter with former NFL star Antonio Brown in Miami last month. Nantambu, a New Orleans resident, was listed as the victim after Brown allegedly fired two shots from a handgun outside a celebrity boxing event in Miami’s Little Haiti neighborhood in the early hours of May 17. Nantambu told authorities that one of the bullets grazed his neck.
Brown is now wanted on attempted murder charges, with authorities seeking a $10,000 bond and house arrest while he awaits trial. The former Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver claims he was the target of an attempted robbery. Recent reports indicate that Brown has fled the country.
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